1.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
2.
Samford University
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Samford University is a private, coeducational, Christian university located in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College, Samford University is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford University is Alabamas top-ranked private university, the university enrolls 5,471 students from 47 states and 29 countries. Samford University has been ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by Kiplingers Personal Finance. In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, some of the land was donated by Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the Samford Board of Trustees for fifteen years and as its President for two years. The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron, the university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The colleges first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a curriculum of language, literature. In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the colleges property, one student and a slave owned by the Universitys president died in the fire. The slave, Harry, was buried in the city cemetery with a significant obelisk marking his grave. Harry was remembered as a faithful servant, while the college recovered from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a hospital by the Confederate government in 1863. During this time, the remaining faculty offered basic instruction to soldiers recovering at the hospital. For a short period after the war, federal troops occupied the college, Howard Colleges board of trustees accepted real estate and funding from the city of Birmingham, Alabama in 1887. In 1913, the college became fully and permanently coeducational, Howard College added its School of Music in 1914 and School of Education and Journalism the following year. The college introduced its Department of Pharmacy in 1927, at the time, it was the only program of its kind in the Southeastern United States. During World War II, Howard College hosted a V-12 Navy College Training Program, the number of veterans attending the college after the war boosted enrollment beyond capacity. In result, the college was moved to the Shades Valley in Homewood, the new campus opened in 1957. In 1961, the college acquired Cumberland School of Law, one of the nations oldest law schools, in addition to the law school, Howard College added a new school of business and reorganized to achieve university status in 1965
3.
Alabama
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Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Alabama is the 30th-most extensive and the 24th-most populous of the U. S. states. At nearly 1,500 miles, Alabama has one of the nations longest navigable inland waterways, Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the Heart of Dixie and the Cotton State, the state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. The largest city by population is Birmingham, which has long been the most industrialized city, the oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many states in the southern U. S. suffered economic hardship, like other southern states, Alabama legislators disenfranchised African Americans and many poor whites at the turn of the century. Following World War II, Alabama grew as the economy changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests. The state economy in the 21st century is based on management, automotive, finance, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, in the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo. The word Alabama is believed to have come from the Alabama language, the words spelling varies significantly among historical sources. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the Alibamon, other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, Allibamou. Sources disagree on the words meaning, some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw alba and amo. The meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers, the state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language, an 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant Here We Rest. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek, experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation. Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization, trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period and continued until European contact. The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 AD, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois, Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no links to Mesoamerican culture
4.
VMI Keydets football
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The VMI Keydets football team represents the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The Keydets compete in the Southern Conference of the NCAA Division I FCS, VMI plays their home contests at 10, 000-seat Alumni Memorial Field, as they have since 1962. Historically VMIs biggest rival was Virginia Tech, today, VMIs biggest rival is the The Citadel, as the two teams have battled 70 times, with The Citadel leading the series 38–30–2. The winner of each receives an award known as the Silver Shako. The last contest occurred on November 22,2014, in which The Citadel rushed for nearly 400 yards en route to a 45–25 victory, in addition to The Citadel, VMI has minor rivalries with William & Mary and Richmond. The Tribe and the Keydets first met in 1908, and William & Mary leads that series 52–33–2, VMIs competition with Richmond goes back farther, to just their third year of existence. Richmond has won 41 games to VMIs 40, and the teams have tied five times, also, the Keydets have played Virginia and Virginia Tech 82 and 79 times, respectively. VMI football dates back to 1873 with a season, featuring a 4–2 loss to Washington. No player or coaching records are known from that game, the Keydets would not have another intercollegiate team until 1891 under coach Walter Taylor III. Taylor was the son of Walter H. Taylor, a Civil War lieutenant colonel, the Keydets went 3–0–1 in 1891, with a win and tie against Washington and Lee and defeats of St. Johns and Pantops Academy. VMI had two undefeated seasons in 1892 and 1894, and a total record of 32–10–2 during the 19th century. Although they were undefeated in 1899 by a virtue of a lone win over Washington & Lee. VMI continued to have success on the field during the early 1900s, ropers brief two-year tenure was highlighted by wins over NC State and Davidson. After several seasons of mediocrity, VMI returned to their ways in 1911 under Alpha Brummage. After Brummage left VMI for Kentucky, where he would become the football and basketball coach. VMI joined the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1918, many of the members of which formed the bulk of the Southern Conference after the disbandment in 1921. In 1920, Blandy Clarkson led VMI to its third of only four seasons with a 9–0 record. With the finished construction of Alumni Field in 1921, VMI football no longer needed to play on the Parade Ground situated in front of the barracks, the stadium was placed around the same place it is today, and was completed at a total cost of $69,000
5.
College Football All-Southern Team
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The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions and it is analogous to the All-America Team and was most often selected in newspapers. Notable pickers of All-Southern teams include John Heisman, Dan McGugin, Grantland Rice, W. A. Lambeth, Reynolds Tichenor, Nash Buckingham, Innis Brown, virginias 115–0 drubbing by Princeton in 1890 signaled footballs arrival in the south. For example, North Carolina was in both the SIAA and SAIAA at different points in its history, and Virginia Tech had one year in the SIAA. Clemson, today in the ACC, was in the SIAA, the SIAA was the oldest of these, founded in the winter of 1894 by Vanderbilt chemistry professor William Lofland Dudley. This organization really represents the south, as its scope is wider. V. P. I. can scarcely be figured in the calculation as that institution hasnt played any of the S. I. A. A. representatives. South Atlantic writers of course were not fond of this, and would sometimes critique the latest All-Southern selection with titles such as Virginia, in 1922 teams from the SIAA and SAIAA left for the Southern Conference and All-Southern teams become effectively All-Southern Conference teams. By 1933 the contemporary Southeastern Conference was established, Walter Camps annual official All-America first team had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and other Northeastern colleges. Many selectors picked only Eastern players, in 1894, Michigan defeated Cornell and lobbied for its center Fatty Smith to be the first Western All-American. Notably the University of Michigan claims for their center Fatty Smith the supremacy in his position, but the western institutions have not yet mastered the eastern knowledge of all the details and fine points of the game. Smith has made a record against the west and even against Cornell. When brought to face a man like the Stillman of today or the Bulliet of last year, Smith would simply be lost, so it would be with all of the claimants for line positions from western teams. And no one claims for a moment that western back field men could play in the class with eastern men. The selectors were typically Eastern writers and former players who attended games in the East. The article noted, Eastern sporting editors must be devoid of all sense of humor, what man in the lot that have picked All-American elevens this fall, saw a single game outside the North Atlantic States. With a conceit all their own they fail to recognize that the United States reaches more than 200 miles in any direction from New York, suppose an Ohio football writer picked All-American teams. Ohio readers would not stand for it, but apparently the eastern readers will swallow anything
6.
Bobby Bowden
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Robert Cleckler Bowden is a retired American football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons, after a difficult 2009 season and amid questioning fans, Bowden stepped down, just weeks after his 80th birthday. But he was allowed to make his final coaching appearance in the 2010 Gator Bowl game on January 1,2010, with a 33–21 victory over his former program, Florida State appealed the ruling, but the NCAA upheld it on January 5,2010. Upon final investigation by Florida State University it was determined that Bowden was to vacate 12 wins, born in Birmingham, Alabama, Bowden spent a portion of his childhood ill in bed. Bowden is the son of Bob Bowden and Sunset Bowden, when he was 13 years old, Bowden was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. After a six-month hospital stay, Bowden was confined to his bed at home for just over a year with nothing more than his imagination to pass the time. It was listening to World War II reports on the radio that began Bowdens interest in the war and it was also around this time that his love for football increased, as he would listen to University of Alabama football on Saturday mornings. He then returned to Birmingham and married his school sweetheart, Ann Estock. Today, the couple have six children and 21 grandchildren, Bobby transferred to Howard College, where he played football, baseball, ran track and became a brother in Pi Kappa Alpha. In his junior year he was elected president of Pi Kappa Alpha and that year his Alpha Pi chapter recorded the highest grade point average in the nation among all Pi Kappa Alpha chapters. His senior year he was reelected to the presidency as well as captain of the team where he garnered All-American honors at quarterback. The Howard College faculty nominated him for Whos Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges in recognition of his academic and athletic leadership, Bowden graduated from Howard in 1953. Bowden served as an assistant football coach and head track and field coach at Howard College in Birmingham and he left his alma mater to become Athletic Director as well as head football, baseball, and basketball coach at South Georgia College from 1956 to 1958. Bowden then returned to Howard as head coach, where he compiled a 31–6 record between 1959 and 1962, in 1962, Bowden went to Florida State University as an assistant coach under Head Coach Bill Peterson. Three other coaching legends who worked under Coach Peterson during this time were Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Bowden left Florida State in 1965 to go to West Virginia University as an assistant under Jim Carlen. When Carlen left following the 1969 season to become coach at Texas Tech. Bowden then compiled a 42–26 record at WVU before returning to FSU as head coach in 1976, during Bowdens first year as head coach at WVU, the football team of the states other top-division school, Marshall University, were killed in a plane crash. Bowden asked NCAA permission to wear Marshall jerseys and play Marshalls final game of the 1970 season against Ohio, in memory of the victims of the crash, Mountaineers players put green crosses and the initials MU on their helmets
7.
Jimbo Fisher
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John James Jimbo Fisher, Jr. is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently coach at Florida State University. As a senior student at Samford University, Fisher was the 1987 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year. From 2000 until 2006 he served as coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana State University. From 2007 to 2009 he was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and, beginning in 2007, Bobby Bowden, Florida States head coach of 34 years, retired after the teams appearance in its 28th consecutive bowl game on January 1,2010. Fisher took over as head coach soon after, Florida State is Fishers first head coaching position and he led them to a 10–4 record during his first season. His inaugural year marked FSUs first 10-win season since 2003 and first appearance in the ACC Championship Game since 2005. When Bowden left for Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Fisher transferred with him to play his final season for the Bulldogs where he was named Division III National Player of the Year, Fisher still holds multiple school records at Samford. Fisher played a season in the Arena Football League in 1988 for the Chicago Bruisers and he was subsequently hired as the full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After two seasons, Fisher moved with Bowden to Auburn University where he coached quarterbacks alongside Terry Bowden, at Auburn, Fisher coached several successful quarterbacks including Patrick Nix, who would later serve as offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech and Miami. He continued at Auburn until Tommy Tuberville took over as coach following Terry Bowdens 1998 mid-season resignation. Fisher coached quarterbacks and was the coordinator for one season at Cincinnati before joining Nick Sabans new staff at LSU in 2000. When Saban left for the NFLs Miami Dolphins Fisher remained at LSU to continue his role with Les Miles, at LSU he helped to develop a number of outstanding college quarterbacks, including Josh Booty, Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck, and JaMarcus Russell. His contract initially guaranteed a base salary of $215,000 with incentives increasing the total package into the low $400,000 range. After his first season as offensive coordinator at Florida State, Fisher was named coach in waiting, making him the eventual successor for Bobby Bowden. The new contract paid Fisher around $600,000 per year with a $2.5 million buyout clause, the university promised to pay $5 million to Fisher if he was not made head coach by January 2011. On December 1,2009 Bowden announced that he would retire from coaching after the Seminoles upcoming bowl game on New Years Day 2010 against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl. Fisher began selecting his coaching staff and recruiting players while preparing the team for its bowl game for the last time as a Bowden assistant, the Seminoles sent Bowden out with a victory on January 1
8.
NCAA Division I Football Championship
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The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an American college football tournament played each year to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Prior to 2006, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, the FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion. The four-team playoff system used by the Bowl Subdivision is not sanctioned by the NCAA, the reigning national champions are the James Madison Dukes, who had previously won in 2004. When Division I-AA was formed for football in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams, in 1982 the I-AA playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals. In its ninth season of 1986, the I-AA playoffs were expanded again to a 16-team format, eight conference champions received automatic bids, with the remaining eight bids available on an at-large basis. The field is set the Sunday before Thanksgiving and play begins that weekend. The top four teams are seeded, however, the matchups are not strictly set up by these seedings as geographic considerations are taken into account to minimize travel. In April 2008 the NCAA announced that the field would again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010. At the same time, it announced that the number of conferences receiving automatic bids would increase to 10, the structure then adopted included eight teams playing in four first round games. The four first round advance to the second Round of Sixteen where they play the top four seeds. The playoffs expanded to 24 teams beginning with the 2013 season, the tournament has historically been played in November and December, with the 2010 expansion to a 20-team field, the championship game moved from December to January. The title game is now played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas at Toyota Stadium, the original contract with Frisco began in the 2010 season and ran through the 2012 season. The contract has since been extended twice, first through the 2015 season, three Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament. The teams that make the playoffs are determined by the FCS Playoff Selection Committee, the current committee chairman is Mark Wilson. The others who serve on the committee are Chuck Burch, Troy Dannen, Brian Hutchinson, Richard Johnson, Nathan Pine, Marty Scarano, Paul Schlickmann, Dr. Brad Teague. ++ The MEAC Champion, since 2015, forgoes its automatic bid to allow its champion to participate in the Celebration Bowl, non-champions are eligible for at-large bids. % The SWAC abstains from the tournament to allow for a longer regular season, an in-conference championship game. † Known as University of Louisiana at Monroe since 1999, ‡ Now Toyota Stadium * Toyota Stadium capacity reduced due to construction ^ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision
9.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
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The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, the SIAA was founded on December 21,1894, by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt, at the Kimball House in Atlanta. Dudley was a member of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, formed in 1886 with Dr. W. M. Baskerville as president, most students at Vanderbilt were members. The early sports played on the Vanderbilt campus were baseball, bicycling, Dudley was primarily responsible for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Sewanees opposition stopped it from occurring, the original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Virginia and North Carolina soon dropped before the inaugural 1895 season, the conference was originally formed for the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South. In 1903, a single-game football playoff occurred, but it seems to have been coordinated more so by the two competing schools than the conference itself, several other efforts over the years by individual schools to hold a conference title game fell through. Most SIAA titles claimed by schools in sports were actually more mythical in nature than officially sanctioned by the league. In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, generally, the larger universities opposed the eligibility of freshman players, while the smaller schools favored it. As a result, some of the universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. At the conferences annual meeting on December 10,1920, the SIAA rejected proposals to ban freshman athletes, in protest, some schools that had voted in favor of the propositions immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference. In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all at the expense of the SIAA, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. With the departure of most of the colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II, original charter members are denoted in boldface. Invited charter members are denoted with an asterisk, in the era in which the SIAA operated, teams tended to join in December, therefore, the first year of conference play in a given sport was often the following calendar year. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2016–17 school year
10.
Homewood, Alabama
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Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, located on the side of Red Mountain due south of the city center. Its estimated 2015 population is 25,708, Homewood is located at 33°28′6″N 86°48′29″W. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of 8.3 square miles. The city, along with the rest of Jefferson County, lies atop iron, coal, Shades Creek, which is part of the Cahaba River system, runs through Homewood. As of the census of 2000, there were 25,043 people,10,688 households, the population density was 3,014.7 people per square mile. There were 11,494 housing units at a density of 1,383.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 79. 75% White,15. 30% Black or African-American,0. 20% Native American,2. 57% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,1. 00% from other races, and 1. 16% from two or more races. 2. 80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,36. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the family size was 2.87. In the city, the population was out with 20. 3% under the age of 18,17. 8% from 18 to 24,34. 0% from 25 to 44,17. 3% from 45 to 64. The median age was 30 years, for every 100 females there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males, the median income for a household in the city was $55,431, and the median income for a family was $70,256. Males had an income of $40,969 versus $34,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,491, about 4. 4% of families and 7. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4. 5% of those under age 18 and 4. 3% of those age 65 or over. As of the census of 2010, there were 25,167 people,10,092 households, the population density was 3,032.2 people per square mile. There were 11,385 housing units at a density of 1,371.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 69. 696% White,17. 3% Black or African-American,0. 2% Native American,2. 2% Asian,0. 0% Pacific Islander,5, 000% from other races, and 1. 4% from two or more races
